Brad (left) and Malcolm White pose for a photo after the Mal’s St. Paddy’s Parade and Festival (now called Hal’s St. Paddy’s Parade and Festival) in 2015. Photo courtesy Roy A. Adkins/Light and Glass Studio

​Hal and Malcolm White have had a huge influence on Jackson, from their namesake restaurant, bar and venue, Hal & Mal's, to the Hal's St. Paddy's Parade & Festival (formerly known as Mal's St. Paddy's Parade & Festival) that serves as Jackson's version of Mardi Gras.

Even though Brad White, brother to Hal and Malcolm, moved to Franklin, Tenn., in 1984, he still considers Mississippi his home, often visiting family here, and of course, stopping by Hal & Mal's, and participating in the St. Paddy's Parade each year.

"They always hand me a list of jobs when I get (to Hal & Mal's). A repair list of sorts," White says. "It's a special place because people who work there are like family. Some have been there for 10, 15, 20 years."

He says Hal and Malcolm were his heroes growing up.

Roots of the White family are deep in the Mississippi soil across the state. Brad White was born in Wiggins, while his brothers were born in Hattiesburg.

"(Wiggins) was a small town like Mayberry, where you rode your bike everywhere," he says. "We had three stores. My uncle was the postmaster."

The family lived in Perkingston until the age of 5, when they moved to the town of Booneville. He stayed there until he moved to Oxford for college at the University of Mississippi. He graduated in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in physical education.

"My father worked at Perkingston Junior College, and my mom was a nurse," he says. "We had a strict upbringing. Most of our time during childhood was spent outdoors: swimming, fishing and running around barefooted," White says. He met his wife, Cammie, at the University of Mississippi and still remembers the day it happened.

"After the spring football game of 1980, I was at a party and introduced randomly to her," he says. "I grabbed her hand and said, 'I (am going to) marry you one day.' She looked at me like I was crazy. We just celebrated our (34th) anniversary."

Like many others who choose to remain within the borders of the Magnolia State, one thing is certain to White: Lessons taught here are inescapable.

"I learned from an early age that we might be poor as Mississippians, but we are proud," he says. "I got my work ethic from here, and I see it in people across the state, regardless of religion, politics, race, etc.

You know, some people come up to me and say negative things about the state. I respond by asking them if they like me. They respond in the affirmative. I then say 'Well, I'm a product of Mississippi.'"

White, who works at Cherry Hill Farm, a farm and ranch, says he would love to live in Mississippi again some day, yet understands how important it is for his wife to live close to her family. He still likes to visit, though.